UK Has Highest Penetration of Smartphone Map Users in EU5
LONDON, UK, 31 May 2012 - Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR), a leader in measuring the digital world, today released an overview of mobile and computer usage of Maps across the five leading European markets (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom) using the Comscore MobiLens and Comscore MMX services. The study showed that 35.0 percent of smartphone users in EU5 reported accessing maps via their device in March 2012, compared to 49.6 percent of the internet audience accessing Maps sites on their computers. Across EU5 markets, the smartphone Map audience increased 55 percent over the past year while map access via computer grew just 8 percent.
“Smartphones are quickly becoming the primary platform for on-the-go services such as maps and navigation. With apps such as Google Maps coming pre-installed on many phones it’s becoming second nature for many of us to rely on the smart device in our pocket to show us the way. The days of checking routes in advance and printing maps to take with us will soon be in our rear view mirror,” said Hesham Al-Jehani, European mobile product manager at Comscore.
UK Leads the Way with 40 Percent of Smartphone Map UsersIn March 2012, 90.4 million EU5 visitors accessed Maps sites via computer, representing 49.6 percent of the internet audience. In comparison, 39.8 million smartphone users accessed maps via their device, representing 35 percent of the EU5 smartphone audience. France ranked first for penetration of Maps sites via computer (53.4 percent reach) but ranked last when it came to smartphone map access (30.4 percent reach). The UK was the top market in terms of Map access via smartphones at 40.2 percent.
EU5 Map Site Access Among Classic Web Users (000) and Smartphone Users (000) March 2012 Computer – Age 15+, Smartphone – Age 13+ Source: Comscore MMX and Comscore MobiLens
Accessed Maps via Computer
Accessed Maps via Smartphone
Unique Visitors (000)
% Reach Among Computer Audience
% Reach Among Smartphone Audience
EU5
90,418
49.6
39,819
35.0
France
23,074
53.4
6,532
30.4
Germany
26,319
51.1
8,671
36.1
Italy
11,622
40.7
6,696
31.4
Spain
10,482
48.6
6,926
35.4
United Kingdom
18,922
50.3
10,995
40.2
Smartphone Map Usage Grows at 7x Computer-Based Map AccessThe EU5 classic web audience for Map sites, such as Google Maps and ViaMichelin, grew 8 percent over the past year, while the smartphone audience grew 55 percent during the same time period. While users are not shifting away from use of Maps on their computers, the surge in behaviour on smartphones suggests incremental usage and the emergence of a compelling use case while people are on-the-go.
The German smartphone map audience showed the greatest increase among EU5 markets at 89 percent, followed closely by Spain at 76 percent. Italy had the slimmest increase in smartphone map access at 35 percent, but showed the fastest growth rate on computers at 22 percent.
Percent Change in Internet Audience Aged 15+ Accessing Maps Sites and Smartphone Audience Aged 13+ Accessing Maps via their Device March 2012 vs March 2011 EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and UK) Source: Comscore MMX and Comscore MobiLens
% Growth Year-over-Year
Accessed Maps Sites via Computer
8%
55%
10%
89%
3%
76%
4%
47%
6%
38%
22%
35%
Apple iPhone Owners Are Keenest to Use MapsIn March 2012, 39.8 million smartphone users accessed maps via their device in EU5. iPhone users showed the highest propensity for this behaviour with 53.4 percent accessing maps on their phones. Google Android, which owned the highest number of map users at 17.7 million, ranked second in map penetration at 39.8 percent, while Microsoft rounded up the top 3 at 34.5 percent.
Top 5 Smartphone Platforms Accessing Maps by % Share of Smartphone Users March 2012 Total EU5 (France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK) Aged 13+ Source: Comscore MobiLens
Accessed Maps
Smartphone Subscribers (000)
% Penetration of Platform Users Accessing Maps
Total Smartphone Map Audience: 13+ yrs old
100.0%
Apple
12,363
53.4%
Google
17,671
39.8%
Microsoft
1,748
34.5%
RIM
2,480
24.5%
Symbian
4,923
18.3%
March 2012 EU5 Mobile Benchmark DataThe table below shows Comscore’s March 2012 mobile benchmark data, including a review of mobile consumption behaviour and device penetration for the five European countries under measurement. These benchmarks are published by Comscore to provide the most up-to-date snapshot of the mobile industry. Further information on these benchmarks, and other data included above, can be provided upon request.
Mobile Benchmark Data for the European Market 3 Month Avg. Ending March 2012 Total EU5 (DE, ES, FR, IT and UK), Age 13+ Source: Comscore MobiLens
Penetration (%) of Mobile Users
UK
Used Smartphone
47.6%
44.7%
41.0%
45.3%
55.2%
55.0%
Used Application (excl. pre-installed)
41.4%
37.4%
37.1%
35.3%
47.1%
52.2%
Used browser
41.1%
40.0%
34.7%
35.4%
44.8%
52.7%
Played games
29.5%
18.0%
26.9%
32.9%
33.1%
37.6%
Sent text message
83.6%
86.3%
79.2%
80.7%
79.6%
91.9%
Listened to music
28.6%
25.1%
27.9%
25.6%
37.7%
29.0%
Accessed Social Networking Site or Blog
28.0%
24.9%
22.1%
24.3%
31.3%
39.2%
About MobiLens MobiLens data is derived from an intelligent online survey of a nationally representative sample of mobile subscribers age 13 and above. Data on mobile phone usage refers to a respondent’s primary mobile phone and does not include data related to a respondent’s secondary device.
About Comscore Comscore, Inc. (NASDAQ: SCOR) is a global leader in measuring the digital world and preferred source of digital business analytics. For more information please visit www.comscore.com/companyinfo
Ayaan MohamudComscore, Inc. + 44 (0) 203-111-1758worldpress@comscore.com